Sarah Palin: Pitbull, Mama Grizzly, and Kingmaker

From the moment John McCain introduced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, the mainstream media hated her. Every phrase she uttered was parsed and every position she held was criticized.

Thus, in September 2008, after she said Russia was viewable from one of the Islands around Alaska, an angry Associated Press lashed out: “Palin has never visited Russia, and until last year the 44-year-old first-term Alaska governor had never traveled outside North America. She also had never met a foreign leader until her trip this week to New York.” And Saturday Night Live turned the entire comment on its head by twisting Palin’s words to, “I can see Russia from my backyard!” (Thereafter, talking heads like Barbara Walters actually quoted the SNL skit instead of Palin when bringing the topic up.)

And even after Obama won the election and Palin had stood on the stage wiping away tears during McCain’s concession speech, the mainstream media continued its attack: an attack which was perhaps most clearly visible in the way they covered her February 2010 speech to the Tea Party Convention in Nashville, TN:

Former Alaska half-term governor Sarah Palin delivered a highly-anticipated and ridiculously lucrative…[and] predictable…speech to around 1,100 supporters at the Tea Party Convention last night, but she couldn’t get through it without a few notes scrawled on her hand.

Note the descriptives–“half-term governor” and “ridiculously lucrative.” (Moreover, note too that even though the speech was “predictable” Palin could barely get through it without notes on her hand.)

Then, just nine short months later, in the November 2010 elections, 30 of 43 of the House candidates Palin endorsed won, as did 7 of the 12 Senate candidates she supported. And that trend has continued into 2012, where the candidate she supported over Richard Lugar in the Indiana primaries will be running for the Senate in November and the candidate she endorsed in Nebraska, state Senator Debby Fischer, defeated state Attorney General Jim Bruning and state Treasurer Don Stenburg. Moreover, candidates like Ted Cruz in Texas are even now enjoying a surge in support because of her endorsement.

So here’s a lesson for the mainstream media–Sarah Palin is a kingmaker. And thanks to her, November 2012 may be as memorable as November 2010.